Journal for Lou

Today I want to share a journal that I made for a very very dear friend and co-worker, Lou.  She is so special to me.  We've worked together for 12 years and I couldn't ask for a better friend and confidant.  I absolutely love how this journal turned out and I secretly wanted to keep it for myself...is that bad???!  {wink}.

Some of the product is probably older and no longer available (like the paper) but I'm going to list it here just so ya know....

The journal size is 5 X 8 and I assembled it using a Zutter Bind-it-All.  The covers are just plain thick chipboard and covered with Bo-Bunny paper.  It's Unwritten from the Gabrielle Collection.  It was perfect for the front of the journal.  The design on the front of the cover is actually how the paper was designed!  PERFECTION!

The verse is from Stamper's Anonymous.  It's actually a wood stamp designed by Tim Holtz that I've had for a while. They issued it as part of one of Tim Holtz's unmounted stamp collections called Just Thoughts.

I added a bit of Tim Holtz film strip tape on the left side.  The little jars are also Tim Holtz corked vials.  I found some clear pebbles and dyed them with Copic refills.  Glued in the little corks and added a bit of twine.  Just too precious.

The roses, of course, are my absolute favorite part of the journal and I just love making them.  They are made from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Grunge Paper and Tim's Tattered Florals Sizzix die (the medium sized 6 petal flower).  I just stamped the pieces with a background stamp and covered them with Distress Ink using a Blending Tool and Foam.  Then assembled the flowers. The leaves are actually die cut from My Favorite Things but I can't recall which die.  {shame}  

The last thing I did was add a bit of Stickles to the rose petals....and let them dry before adding them to the front of the journal.

The inside of the journal is just plain kraft text weight paper.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you like my journal.

Linda

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1 Stamp - 2 Cards

First of all, I love Penny Black stamps.  Last year, she introduced a new line of Fashion Girls stamps.  I instantly fell in love with them.

As part of my in-house design team work for The Scrapbooking Studio in Bloomington, IL, I decided to take the Fashion Delivery stamp (4213K) and make two different cards.

The first card pairs this stamp with beautiful papers from Echo Park's Season's Greetings Collection.  This paper has a retro feel and I love how it coordinates with the stamp.  I used a simple paper piecing technique for her coat and the rest is colored with Copics.  I really like the colors in this card.

For the 2nd card, I paired up the stamp with papers from the Amy Tangerine line from American Crafts.  For this one, I simply used Copics for all the coloring.  Found a coordinating button and cute birthday sentiment from Memory Box.

I hope this inspires you to think outside the box.  When you use a stamp, think of all the possibilities and techniques to create different looks and pieces of art.

See you soon!

Linda